IUPUI Launches Campus Kitchen

A new program is launching, Friday, at IUPUI.  It’s intended to help feed the hungry around Indianapolis and is run by students.

Last year, a group at IUPUI entered a video into a contest with the national group Campus Kitchen. It was one of five schools chosen to receive a $5,000 grant to bring the Campus Kitchen Project to the Indianapolis campus.

Logan Bogard is the director of the student run initiative.  

He says the goal is to collect food that is still good, but isn’t being used at dining halls and local hospitals, restaurants, and grocery stores and distributing it to those in need.

"They have to be a balanced, nutritious meal," said Bogard.  "So, there is going to be protein, there will be a starch, there will be a veggie, there will be a fruit and or a dessert."

The plan is to put together between 80 and 100 meals at least once a month.

Bogard says the focus is going to be on helping those living just west of campus who are food insecure.

"IUPUI has always wanted to make an impact on the community and I think that the service has just kind of trickled down to all of the students," he said.  "Every department and all of the students are really service oriented and this is just a really good way to give back to the community."

Another part of the project is nutrition education, specifically for children and seniors.  The first round of meals is going to Wheeler Mission Ministries in Indianapolis.

The celebration begins Friday at 4 p.m. at the IUPUI Campus Center.